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BIG GIFT East Kalimantan
Journey to the Rainforest: An Interview
Emily Meijaard lives in East Kalimantan, Borneo. She is seven years old and in the second grade. Over the Easter holiday, she journeyed to the rainforest with her dad, Eric Meijaard, who studies storm storks, orangutans, and other rainforest animals. Rona Dennis interviewed her for "Forest Science News."
What's a storm stork? A big bird, bit like a heron. They are black with a red bill, and they are pretty shy.
How did you get to the forest? We took an airplane from Balikpapan to Berau. Then we had a two-hour drive. Then we went in a boat for another two hours. We saw lots of animals when we were in the boat.
What kind of animals? Hornbills (birds), proboscis monkey, long-tailed macaques (small primates), kingfishers, and a couple of eagles.
Where did you stay? We stayed at Camp Lejak first and then Long Gie.
Tell me about Camp Lejak. It was near to a river, beside the forest, had no toilets, and there was lots of rattan there. It had steep steps down to the river. There were lots of giant ants. It didn't have any electricity. The river had a very strong current and because there was no bathroom I had to wash in the river, so I had to be very careful not to get washed away. That was exciting.
What was nice about Camp Lejak? We went for walks everyday in the rainforest. We saw gibbons, giant squirrels, leeches (and the leeches liked my dad), and orangutan nests. We also saw fresh signs of orangutans, like leaves that they had ripped off trees. I also liked that there were no people there. It was very nice to play cards at night in the candle light. The best part, though, was spending so much time in the river playing with my dad.
What didn't you like about the camp? I had to take malaria tablets so that I didn't get malaria. I didn't like taking the tablets. It turned out that there weren't any mosquitoes there anyway.
What was the food like? Terrific, we ate omelets, fish and rice every day. I liked helping cook fish over a campfire. I'd never done that before.
What was it like sleeping there? It was hot and sweaty. But I had good sleeps.
What did you think of Long Gie, the other place you stayed? I didn't like it so much because it wasn't much of a place to play, and the food wasn't too good. It was very noisy at night with cockerels, dogs, cats and rats all making a noise. Also I did not see any wildlife.
But you must have liked something at Long Gie. One day we went up a river in a small boat. It was a lovely trip, but we didn't see much wildlife. On the way back I got soaked when the boat hit rapids on the river and a wave came into the boat. That was fun.
What did you learn on this trip that you didn't know before? Nothing really. I already know a lot of stuff. But there were a few things I didn't know: that monkeys sometimes fall out of trees, that butterflies like drinking your wee, storm storks are so rare, and that leeches are so attracted to my dad.
What do you know about conservation? I think that all people that cut down trees should be thrown into jail.
Do you think that The Nature Conservancy is doing a good job saving the rainforest? They are doing so-so, because they haven't told every single person in the world that they should stop cutting down trees.
Reprinted with permission from Eric Meijaard, Senior Forest Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy - Indonesia
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In the forest with dad at the river's edge.
Helping roast a fish on the campfire.
In the boat, traveling up a chocolate-colored river near Long Gie.
Photos courtesy of Eric Meijaard.
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